Description

In recent years, Europeans have engaged in sharp debates about migrants and minority groups as social problems. The discussions usually neglect who these people are, how they live their lives, and how they identify themselves. Multiple Identities describes how migrants and minorities of all age groups experience their lives and manage complex, often multiple, identities, which alter with time and changing circumstances. The contributors consider minorities who have received a lot of attention, such as Turkish Germans, and some who have received little, such as Kashubians and Tartars in Poland and Chinese in Switzerland. They also examine international adoption and cross-cultural relationships and discuss some models for multicultural success.

Author Bio

Paul Spickard is Professor of History and Asian American Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is author of Mixed Blood: Intermarriage and Ethnic Identity in Twentieth-Century America (1989), Pacific Diaspora: Island Peoples in the United States and across the Pacific (2002), Racial Thinking in the United States (2004), Race and Nation: Ethnic Systems in the Modern World (2005), and Almost All Aliens: Immigration, Race, and Colonialism in American History and Identity (2007).

Reviews

"A significant contribution to studies of migration in Europe, ethnic/racial studies, studies of transnationalism, political studies of citizenship and belonging, as well as to the fields of sociology and anthropology." —Rebecca King-O'Riain, National University of Ireland

Customer Reviews

Table of Contents

AcknowledgmentsPart 1. Orientations 1. Many Multiplicities: Identity in an Age of Movement \ Paul Spickard, University of California, Santa Barbara 2. Ethnic Identities and Transnational Subjectivities \ Anna Rastas, University of TamperePart 2. The Complexities of Identities 3. Between Difference and Assimilation: Young Women with South and Southeast Asian Family Background Living in Finland \ Saara Pellander, University of Helsinki 4. Doing Belonging: Young Women of Middle Eastern Backgrounds in Sweden \ Serine Gunnarsson, Uppsala University 5. To Be or Not to Be a Minority Group? Identity Dilemmas of Kashubians and Polish Tatars \ Katarzyna Warmińska, Cracow University of Economics 6. "When You Look Chinese, You Have to Speak Chinese": Highly Skilled Chinese Migrants in Switzerland and the Promotion of a Shared Language \ Marylène Lieber and Florence Lévy, Neuchatel UniversityPart 3. Family Matters 7. Intercountry Adoption: Color-b(l)inding the Issues \ Saija Westerlund-Cook 8. The Children of Immigrants in Italy: A New Generation of Italians? \ Enzo Colombo and Paola Rebughini, University of Milan 9. Possible Love: New Cross-cultural Couples in Italy \ Gaia Peruzzi, Sapienza University of RomePart 4. Modes of Multicultural Success? 10. Divided Identities: Listening to and Interpreting the Stories of Polish Immigrants in West Germany \ Mira Foster, University of California, Santa Barbara 11. The Politics of Multiple Identities in Kazakhstan: Current Issues and New Challenges \ Karina Mukazhanova, Karaganda State University and University of Oregon 12. Chinese Americans, Turkish Germans: Parallels in Two Racial Systems \ Paul Spickard, University of California, Santa BarbaraBibliographyContributorsIndex